Air hammer



1. w. WOLFE.

AIR HAMMER. APPLICATION FILED NOV-I2v1920.

. Patented May 16,1922.

FIG. 3 v

Qwuwntob John/17 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN w. woLrE, or wAsnINeroN, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR or oNE-rrrmn 'ro JOHN 1*. soon, or WASHINGTON, :orsrnror or COLUMBIA.

AIR HAMMER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that 1, JOHN 1V. /Vonrna citizen of the United States of America, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air Hammers of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to air hammers and has special reference to an attachment for air hammers.

With air hammers as at present con-. structed there is provided at the forward end of the hammer a socket for the reception of the tool to be used in the hammer, this tool taking any desired form as that of a chisel, a riveting tool or any other form found useful. In the present construction the socket formed integrally at the end of the air hammer isof circular cross section while the majority of tools, such as above described are made from tool steel bars which are hexagonal in cross section. Consequently, in order for the tool to fit within thesocket, it is necessary to provide a butt on the tool of circular cross section. This naturally causes expense in manufacture.

One important object of the'present invention is to provide a tool socket which may be applied to the front end of any air hammer and which will permit ofthe use of a number of different tools the shanks of which are of the ordinaryhexagonal form. I i

In the construction of an adapter socket of this class it isessential that means he provided to transmit the blow of the air hammer piston to the butt end of the tool held in the socket and to this end it is-also essential that air pressure on the butt of the transmitting part must be relieved at the proper time. k

A second important object of the invention is toprovide a socket of this class wherein suitable means will be used for antomatically relieving the air pressure on the blow transmitting part at the vals in thecycle ofoperation.

With the above andother objects in view the invention consists in general of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,like charproper inter- Specification of Letters latent. Paflggnted Ma 1922;

Application filed November 12, 1920. Serial No. 423,686. I

actors of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and p Figure 1 is a side elevation of the socket.

Figure 2 is an end view thereof.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section therethrough showing the socket-applied to an air hammer and a tool in place. I

Figure 1 is a side elevation partly insection showing removablesocket.

1 Figure 5 is end View thereof.

In the embodiment of'the invention herein illustrated there is shown in Figure 3 forwhich is turned down to fit snugly within the nose 10 of the air hammer. It is preferred that this sleeve be fitted in the'air hammer with a press fit but it is not essential that this be the case as a sleeve may, if desired,

be fitted so that it will beinserted by hand or by light blows of the hammer or in any other way which'may be found advisable in practice. The rearend-16 of this sleeve is bored out cylindrioally as at 17 and between "this cylindrically boredout portion and the hexagonal socket 1 1 is provided a reduced 'portion18 so that an annular shoulder l9is formed between the two ends of the sleeve within the bore. Slidably mounted in the bore 17 is a plunger 20 having a reduced end 21 which is slidable through the reduced portion 18 of the bore of the sleeve. Between the reduced end 21 and body 20 of the plunger there is formed a shoulder 22 arranged to cooperate with the shoulder 19 above mentioned and thus limit the forward movement of the plunger 20. In order to prevent rotation of the plungerand also to limit rearward movement thereof there is provided a key-way 23 in said plunger extending longitudinally thereof and through the end 16 of the sleeve extends a guide pin 24: the inner end of which enters the key-way 23. Thus the plunger can only move forward to the amount allowed by the shoulders 22 and 19 and is stopped in its rearward movement by engagement of the pin 24 with the forward end of the key way 23.

With the foregoing construction it will be obvious that air entering through the passage 12 will form an air cushion between the piston '11 and plunger 20 unless provision is made for relieving the pressure at this point. To the end that such provision may be made there is provided through the side wall of the socket a port 25 and extending from the rear end of the plunger 23 forwardly thereof is an air passage 26 which has its forward end turned laterally outward as at 2'? so that when the plunger is in the forward position and the shoulders 19 and 22 in engagement the end 27 of the air passage will register with the port 25 and thus any air under pressure in the space between the piston 11 and plunger 20 will be allowed to escape through the passage and port aforesaid.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the tool may be used in the ordinary manner, that is to say, a tool shank is placed in the socket end 13 and by pressing the forward end of the tool against the object to be cut or hammered the shank is pressed backward and thus the plunger 20 is forced backward. The air hammer is of course connected in the usual way to an air supply provided with a manually operable valve and upon this valve being opened the piston 11 is driven forward into contact with the plunger 20.

This forces the plunger forward effecting a blow on the tool as desired. When the piston 11 moves forward air enters through the passage 12 and the piston 11 is forced back so that repeated blows are given to the tool. However, when it is desired to stop the hammering action the pressure exerted by the operator in the direction of the piece being operated upon is relaxed. When this is done the tool 15 slides forward as a result of the next impact of the piston or plunger 20. Consequently the plunger 20 is permitted to have its full forward movement and the air passage 27 then registers with the air passage 25 so that the air pressure which ordinarily would drive the piston 11 rearwardly is released through the passages 26, 27 and 25. Consequently the piston 11 does not move rearwardly at this time and further hammering action is stopped. By again pressing on the air hammer to force the tool 15 inwardly the plunger 20 is forced backward and the air pressure entering through the passage 12 forces the piston 11 backward thus starting the operation again.

There has thus been provided'a'sim'ple and efficient device of the kind described and for the purpose specified.

It is obvious that many minor changes maybe made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material principles thereof. It is not therefore desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described but it is wished to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is l. A tool socket for air hammers comprising a sleeve having one end arranged to engage an air hammer detachably and the other end arranged to engage a tool loosely, a plunger slidably mounted in the air hammer engaging end of the sleeve and adapted to be struck by the piston of the air hammer, and means to limit the movement of the plunger, said sleeve having a lateral port therein opening outwardly to the atmosphere and the plunger having an air relief vent extending from its inner end and opening laterally in registry with the sleeve port upon the plunger reaching the forward limit of its movement.

2. A tool socket for air hammers comprising a sleeve having one end arranged to fit within an air hammer and its other end arranged to receive a tool loosely, said sleeve having an internally reduced portion between said ends forming an annular shoulder within the sleeve, a plunger slidably mounted in the hammer fitting end of the sleeve and having a reduced end slidable through the reduced portion of the sleeve to strike a tool held in said sleeve, and means to limit movement of the plunger away from said shoulder, said sleeve having a lateral port therein opening outwardly to the atmosphere and the plunger having an air relief vent extending from its inner end and opening laterally in registry with the sleeve port upon the plunger reaching the forward limit of its movement.

3. In combination, an air hammer body having an opening in its forward end, the outer part of said opening being enlarged abruptly to provide a socket receiving portion; of a tool socket having an inner end and an outer end, said innerend being of substantially less diameter than the outer end fitting within the enlarged portion of the opening in the hammer, said socket being provided with an opening extending from end to end therethrough, the inner portion of said opening being of the same diameter as the smaller portion of the opening in the hammer body, the outer portion of said opening being arranged to engage a tool loosely, the central portion of the opening being of less diameter than either the inner or the outer portions thereof, a plunger having a reduced forward end slidab'le in the central portion of thesocket opening and a body slidable in the inner portion of the socket opening and the "smaller part of the opening in the body, said plunger having an air relief vent extending from its inner end and opening laterally through its reduced forward end, said sleeve having an air Vent extending laterally outward from the middle portion of the opening in the sleeve to the atmosphere.

4. A tool socket for air-hammer including a hollow cylindrical member having an inner and outer end, said inner end being of substantially less diameter than the outer end and adapted to fit within the end of an air-hammer body, said socket being provided With an opening extending from end to end therethrough, the inner end portion of the opening being of less diameter than the outer end portion of the opening, said socket having laterally positioned air escape openings, and a plunger slidable in the inner end of the, socket and having a tool striking end in the outer end of the socket, said plunger being provided with an air escape channel arranged to be closed when the plunger is in its inner position and to afiord communication between the air-hammer bodv and the lateral socket openings when the plunger is in its outer position. v

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

Washington, D. 0., November 8, 1920.

JOHN W. WOLFE. 

